AH Original · Case study 06

ToolBubble

Live2026 – NowSaaS · Solo product

Over 196 tools that run in your browser, plus editors, cloud storage and subscriptions, built on Next.js and Cloudflare Workers, designed and run on my own.

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Role: Founder & sole developer
Stack: Next.js · Cloudflare · Stripe
Year: 2026 – Now

ToolBubble homepage with tool search and category grid — toolbubble.com

ToolBubble video compression tool running with a progress bar — compress video

Type: Self-funded SaaS product
Role: Founder & sole developer
Stack: Next.js · Cloudflare · Stripe
Catalogue: 196+ tools · 16 categories

01. The platform

Every file task, one place.

A quick conversion usually means trawling several ad-heavy sites and uploading private files to servers you know nothing about. ToolBubble replaces that with one consistent platform where the experience is the same from a PDF compressor to a regex tester, and where, for most tools, the file never leaves the device.

02. In-browser processing

The work happenson your machine.

FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly handles video and audio; pdf-lib, pdf.js, Canvas and jszip handle documents, images and archives. Nothing is uploaded unless the user chooses to save or share it, which keeps files private and the per-conversion cost at zero.

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ToolBubble: Hero, tool search and category grid — Hero, tool search and category grid

03. A catalogue from configuration

One entry, one component, one new tool.

Every tool is declared once (id, category, copy, meta description, FAQs, related tools) and navigation, category pages, search, the sitemap, structured data and the page itself are all generated from it. A single dynamic route renders them all.

FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly for video and audio
pdf-lib, pdf.js, Canvas, heic2any and jszip on-device
One config file drives nav, search, sitemap and schema
Each tool's code loads only on its own page

ToolBubble: JSON formatted and validated in the browser — JSON formatted and validated in the browser

ToolBubble: A 3.8 MB image compressed to 203 KB on-device — A 3.8 MB image compressed to 203 KB on-device

ToolBubble: A category page and its tool cards — A category page and its tool cards

04. Editors & storage

Open it, change it, keep it.

The PDF, Word, Excel, photo and video editors open files straight from cloud storage and write the changes back in place. Storage is broken down per tool, downloads go through short-lived signed URLs, and a cancelled plan keeps 500 MB permanently rather than locking anyone out.

PDF, Word, Excel, photo and video editors
Files open from cloud storage and autosave back in place
Quota charged only on the size difference
Read-only mode for safe previews

ToolBubble: Spreadsheet opened and edited in the browser — Spreadsheet opened and edited in the browser

ToolBubble: Stored files with usage broken down per tool — Stored files with usage broken down per tool

05. Sharing & billing

Charging for volume, not for use.

Every tool is free and unlimited. Paid plans sell storage, share volume and control, and private sharing stays free, so no one is pushed into making a document public to avoid paying. The plan is read from the database on every billing-sensitive request rather than trusted from a 30-day login token.

Opaque R2 object IDs behind short-lived signed URLs
Share links with password, expiry and owner branding
Views and downloads logged by country
Stripe Checkout, billing portal and signed webhooks

ToolBubble: Expiry, password and a view log on a share link — Expiry, password and a view log on a share link

ToolBubble: Free, Pro and Max pricing — Free, Pro and Max pricing

06. Architecture

A thin edge API behind a thick client.

Because the heavy lifting happens in the browser, the Worker API only has to do what a client cannot be trusted with: identity, quotas, share permissions, billing and the nightly retention job. Quotas are enforced server-side only.

Browser
WASM does the work
Next.js 14
Tool routes & editors
Workers API
Auth, files, quotas
D1 · R2 · KV
Users, files, pins
Stripe · Claude
Billing & AI tools

07. Scale & discoverability

Tools across sixteen categories.

Hundreds of near-identical tool pages can read as thin to a search engine, so each one carries its own copy, FAQs, structured data and links to related tools, supported by generated Open Graph images and long-form how-to articles.

16: Categories
5: Online editors
3: Stripe plans

08. Admin & surface

Running it without touching code.

The admin area covers users, tool and category settings, theme colours, a blog editor with live SEO analysis and schema output, and a media library with folders, bulk actions and file replacement that leaves URLs unchanged.